(+) A federal effort with the Southern Highlands Conservancy to restore red spruce throughout the southern Appalachian region to combat climate change will grow red spruce trees in a North Carolina nursery. I am.
Washington Post (via Getty Images)
The U.S. government is directing nearly $1 billion in federal infrastructure investment to planting native species from nature’s toolkit to better protect people, ecosystems, and commerce from the damage caused by extreme weather events. .
Through a myriad of programs under the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Ecosystem Restoration and Resilience Framework, the National Seed Strategy is a focus area where millions of dollars are spent on “strategic and evidence-based” conservation and land restoration projects. It is.
America’s native plants and associated wildlife habitats are increasingly being destroyed by invasive species, natural disasters, and wildfires. Under such a scenario, damaged ground can be restored with natural seeds (which become genetically adapted over time and are unique to a particular region) and revegetated with native plants within an appropriate ecosystem. It’s the best. Region-specific natural seeds are not actually available for purchase in stores. They must be collected in advance and planted after a disaster to prevent and preserve indigenous ecosystems from being overrun by various vegetation that destroys habitat and harms dependent wildlife.
Additionally, soils that have been stripped of native plants due to disasters are more susceptible to erosion and flooding.
The federal government will rely on the National Seed Strategy to develop resilient habitats that can combat worsening weather-related disasters and also reduce the negative ecological impacts of interdependent living organisms. We are creating.
To explain the concept of the national ecosystem as a critical part of America’s infrastructure, the Department of the Interior published a fact sheet on nature-based resilience projects funded through the Restoration and Resilience Framework .
“Our ability to restore these damaged lands and halt the loss of cultural and economic benefits to society depends on adequate and sufficient seed resources for reforestation, as well as associated research, decision-making tools, and and public support for ecosystem restoration,” the document states. Seed section. Replanting native seeds in areas where native plants once grew is a quick way to revegetate.
In the case of wildfires, U.S. government statistics highlight the need for greater resilience and paint a grim picture of some of the known economic impacts associated with wildfires.
While it is difficult to determine the exact economic costs associated with wildfire damage, Congress’ Joint Economic Committee estimated last year that losses related to evacuation, electricity, income, and insurance cost the annual cost of economic damage to $394 billion. It was estimated that it could range from US$893 billion to US$893 billion. Payments, property damage, property values, smoke exposure and timber, and damage to aquifer and watershed levels. Another relevant number is the $2.9 billion annual price tag that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior spends on wildfire suppression. This figure, announced in May, is expected to rise further.
Comparing statistics over the past 30 years on the number of acres burned annually by wildfires yields sobering results. The numbers are tracked by the Idaho-based National Interagency Fire Center. (NIFC is managed by federal stakeholders, including the U.S. Fire Administration, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and National Weather Service. There is also a contact point provided by Defense.
From 1990 to 2019, wildfires in the U.S. burned 106% more acres (68.4 million acres) between 2010 and 2019, compared to a total of 33.2 million acres consumed by fires in the 1990s. I did. In other words, wildfire damage on an area basis increased gradually, increasing to 61.2 million acres from 2000 to 2009, an 84% increase compared to the previous decade.
In February, BLM announced $18 million in new federal investments in natural seeds to combat climate change through landscape resilience.
“Nature has spent thousands of years designing plants to suit its location, so there’s nothing better than using that teaching to incorporate native seeds into our restoration efforts,” said BLM Director Tracy.・Stone Manning said in a press statement. Funding. “Heirloom varieties have a better chance of long-term success.”
The use of seeds to advance the U.S. government’s efforts to enhance nature and strengthen the nation’s infrastructure continues through much effort and coordination among various federal departments. Small but natural seeds are a powerful link in national strategies to increase resilience across plant supply chains and combat the negative aspects of climate change.
